An aspirant's several years search for Allah, made possible by His grace/mercy ,and not through any efforts of the seeker

Friday, May 29, 2015

179. Jesus And The
Historians. Part One

Recently, this mote came across a book (1), “Zealot, by Reza
Aslan”. This is a book about historical Jesus. What are my credentials to say
anything on this subject? Let me mention them right at the outset. I am a
secular humanist, who does not believe in any religion, but passionately loves
God. I also practice mysticism, but am still a novice. Furthermore, I am not
unbiased, because I have tremendous respect for Jesus Christ. I also love
Jesus.

The following are my impressions about this book in
particular, and about other scholars in this area in general. After reading the
book I had the overwhelming feeling of unfairness of the process to Jesus. I
was mystified by the lack of uniform criteria for judging the authenticity of
the data about the life of Jesus. It was as if the author had a preconceived
conclusion. He selected the data which supported his contention and rejected or
ignored the data which opposed his contention. This is not the way of science.
I did research in cell biology for 6-7 years, I know what I am talking. I think
scholars in other fields pursue the truth in a similar way: go the way the
evidence leads you.

; don’t choose certain facts and ignore other facts, but
consider all facts ( see blog 97 for
more detail).

Let me give an example. The author himself acknowledges on
page xx the importance of Q source (the material unique to the gospels of
Mathew and Luke) and the gospel of Mark, which was the earliest of all gospels.
He relied on them because they were ‘the
earliest and thus the most reliable’.

Now won’t you set a criterion right from the beginning of
your research, that if a narrative is present, in broad details, in all the
three gospels, then it is correct. Of course there might be minor variations
because they were written by different person(s) separated from each other in
time and space. If a fact is mentioned in all four gospels or in all three
gospels and in the letters of Paul, it should be considered indisputable. That
does not necessarily mean that it is true, but it means that it was perceived
as such by the gospel writers, unless all of them were lying. The only other
possibility is that they were mistaken about what they saw or heard due to
disease of mind: what they saw or heard was not real (although they thought it
was real); it was a hallucination.

The investigator has to distinguish between these three
possibilities: correct, lying, or impairment of the mind. Hallucinogic drugs,
fatigue, or lack of sleep can temporarily cause the mind to play tricks.

Truth must be distinguished from correct, the two are not
synonymous. For instance, New Testament is full of stories of people possessed
by demons. Modern science will consider them to be suffering from epilepsy or
hysteria, but people in those days truly believed that they were possessed by
demons. The people were mistaken but not deliberate liars.

The scholars also take into consideration that the incidents
written in the gospels have passed through many hands and thus may be polluted.
But they, and the letters of Paul, are all that we have. Paul’s letters were
written by him with no intervening persons, so are extremely important
(although Aslan is not sure about some letters; see page 264). Josephus’s ‘Antiquities’
is of little help because, it does not throw any light on the life-history of
Jesus.

Careful consideration should also be given to whether a
reported incident is a fact or an opinion; is it just mentioned as an
observation or the name of the observer is actually mentioned. For instance,
this mote noted that mention is made in gospels of Mark, Mathew, and Luke, of a
voice from heaven, after the baptism of Jesus, but no mention is made of the
name of person(s) who heard the voice.

Now let us first consider the trial of Jesus by the Roman
Governor, Pontius Pilate. It is a detail of the final hours of his life which
has been mentioned in all four gospels
and by Paul.( Mark 15:1; Mathew 27:11; Luke 23:13; John 18:29-40, 1 Timothy
6:13 )Aslan goes at great length to
advocate the notion that the trial never happened, although in one place he
grudgingly concedes the possibility.

He uses very strong language. Here is what he has to say: ‘The
story of Jesus’ trial as narrated by gospels was a drama, purely fictitious,
concocted by Mark, and one should completely dismiss it. The Roman Governor
would not even have sat in the same room as Jesus, what to talk of granting him
a trial. The trial was a pure fantasy, did not make any sense at all, was never
held, there was no need of a trial; etc. ( pages, 148-149, 152-154, 156,158)’

To be continued

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(1) Zealot___The life and times of Jesus of
Nazareth by Reza Aslan. Published by Random House, 2013

Friday, May 22, 2015

178. Saint Paul. Part Three

He was guided by
Holy Spirit and Jesus. Here is what he said:

“And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am
going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns
me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However,
I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and
complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the
good news of God’s grace”. (Acts
20:22-24)

20 I have been crucified with
Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me
and gave Himself for me. (Galatians
2:19-20 )

He worked for his living
and was not a burden on society. Here is what he declared:

“I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold
or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that
these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions.
35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this
kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus
himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to
receive.’ ”( Acts
20:33-35)

He asked a very
important question, which had and has puzzled humanity for ages :

“ Well then , you might
say, ‘Why does God blame people for not listening ? Haven’t they simply done
what He made them do?’

20 But who are you, a human
being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,
‘Why did you make me like this?’” 21 Does
not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery
for special purposes and some for common use?” ( Romans 9:19-21)

There was a great confusion amongst the new
Christians who were originally non-Jews (Gentiles) as to what foods they were
supposed to eat or not eat. For instance Jews did not eat pork but other
nations ate pork. Jews who converted to Christianity like St Peter and other
Apostles did not eat pork. St Paul clarified the matter ( same problem was
about circumcision ). He has mentioned it in many of his letters. Let me quote:

14 I am convinced, being fully
persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone
regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 15 If your brother or sister is distressed because of
what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy
someone for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore
do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 17
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of
righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.(Romans 14:14-17)

This mote believes in one God. Christians
have Holy Trinity. I would like to quote what Paul said:

6
But for us, “There is only one God, the Father. Everything came from
him, and we live for him.
There is only one Lord, Jesus Christ. Everything came into
being through him, and we live because of him.” (1 Corinthians 8:6)

St Paul had the
power to perform some type of miracles. Here is one mention of it:

11
And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: 12 So
that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the
diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.13 Then
certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which
had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus,
saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. (Acts 19:11-13)St Paul and the Apostles had a very hard life. What
kept them going? St Paul gives a moving answer:“We
are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;9 persecuted,
but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10
We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life
of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For
we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that
his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12
So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.13
It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have
that same spirit of[b] faith, we also believe and
therefore speak,14 because we know that the one who raised
the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with
you to himself. 15 All this is for your
benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause
thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.16
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away,
yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.17 For
our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far
outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes
not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary,
but what is unseen is eternal.” (2
Corinthians 4:8-18)

Friday, May 15, 2015

He had several visions. I have already described his
vision of Jesus. Here are two more:

“And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a
man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us”.
(Acts 16:9)

“Then spake the Lord
to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy
peace:”(Acts 18:9)

He hints of another
vision, but does not describe it in detail:

12 I must go on
boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions
and revelations of the Lord.2 I know a man
in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in
the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.3
And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body
or out of the body I do not know, God knows—4 and
he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own
behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses—(2: Corinthians)

On the way to Rome to stand trial before
Caesar, Saint Paul was shipwrecked. The episode is written in great detail. I
will be brief:

“Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become
dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement.[a] So Paul warned them,10 “Men,
I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to
ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.” ( Acts 27 )

20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many
days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being
saved.21 After they had gone a long time without food,
Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not
to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss.22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the
ship will be destroyed.23 Last night an angel of the God to
whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me24 and said, ‘Do
not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously
given you the lives of all who sail with you.’25
So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen
just as he told me.26 Nevertheless, we must
run aground on some island.”

30 In an attempt to escape from the ship, the
sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower
some anchors from the bow.31 Then Paul said
to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you
cannot be saved.”

33 Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat.
“For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and
have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything.34
Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you
will lose a single hair from his head.”35 After
he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all.
Then he broke it and began to eat.36 They
were all encouraged and ate some food themselves.37
Altogether there were 276 of us on board.38
When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by
throwing the grain into the sea.39 When daylight came, they did not recognize
the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the
ship aground if they could.40 Cutting loose
the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes
that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for
the beach.41 But the ship struck a sandbar
and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was
broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.42 The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to
prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping.43
But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying
out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get
to land.44 The rest were to get there on
planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land
safely.To be continued

Friday, May 8, 2015

176. Saint Paul. Part one

The most moving
lines in Bible, as for as this mote is concerned, are the following, said by
Saint Paul:

“And I am convinced
that nothing can ever separate us from His love. Death cannot, and life cannot.
The angels cannot, and the demons cannot. Our fears for today, our worries for
tomorrow, and even the powers of hell cannot keep God’s love away. Whether we
are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will
ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ
Jesus our Lord.”

“My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief
for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever
cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them”.

Paul’s words are
important, because they have been written by him, in his two thousand years old
letters, or by his close disciple, Luke, in Acts. You probably know who Paul
was. His original name was Saul. He never met Jesus. He persecuted early
Christians with zeal. One day as he was going to Damascus, on a horse, he had a
vision of Jesus, which I have described in detail, in blog 164. However for the
sake of continuity I will narrate it again:

“As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from
heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him,
“Saul (see footnote), Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.
“Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

The men traveling with Saul stood
there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from
the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him
by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink
anything.

—Acts
9:3–9

Then Ananias went to the house and
entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus,
who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you
may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like
scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was
baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

—Acts
9:17–19

Paul was chosen by
Jesus to spread Christianity to all nations, which he did. No other single person,
except Christ himself, is responsible for Christianity being the number one
religion of mankind. Here is what Jesus said to Ananias: “Go! This man
is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and
to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
(Acts 9:15-16).

And suffer he did, and travel he did. He was beheaded in
Rome in mid-60s. He spread Christianity in distant lands and wrote letters of
guidance to disciples, such as Timothy, Titus and Philemon, and to Christian
communities, such as; Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, and
Thessalonians.

I cannot improve upon his own account of his suffering:

I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently,
been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes
minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with
rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, and I spent
a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have
been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from
bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in
the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false
believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and
have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often
gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides
everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led
into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things
that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father
of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, know that I am not lying.
32 In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had
the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. 33 But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the
wall and slipped through his hands. (2: Corinthians)He also had
some sort of physical suffering. He asked God to take it away. The answer of
God is revealing:7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because
of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,] a thorn was given
me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming
conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the
Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But
he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so
that the power of Christ may rest upon me.(2:Corinithians)To be continued